Nationwide Building Society has seen the number of people looking to open a
current account rise 26pc in the past few days.

Britain's biggest mutual has seen a sharp increase in customers looking to open an account in the past week.

The sharp rise coincides with the Libor crisis and the systems failure at RBS which left millions of customers unable to access their accounts.

It said that it has seen a 26pc increase (branch and online combined) in the number of people opening and transferring their main account to the Society.

The number looking to switch online is up 85pc. A spokeswoman said: "It is too early to say exactly where these customers are switching from, but we suspect the increase is down to customers reacting to recent events."

In many ways it has never been a better time to switch accounts. While the carrots dangled to attract new customers have become more tempting in recent years, it appears that they have often been at the expense of loyal consumers.

According to Defaqto, the statistician, just 22pc of bank accounts paid no interest at all on credit balances three years ago. Today almost six out of 10 accounts (59pc) don't pay interest at all. At the same time the average interest rate paid (by those that do) has fallen, while the average overdraft rate has increased.

There has been another worrying trend: the number of paid-for "packaged" accounts has risen sharply over this period, as has the average monthly charge for these products. A significant proportion of new bank accounts opened today are packaged accounts, where customers pay a monthly fee in exchange for a number of additional benefits such as "free" travel insurance or breakdown cover.

In fact, recent research by the Financial Services Authority suggested that one in five adults now has a packaged account. But with the average monthly fee on these accounts now £15.37, this means these customers are paying almost £185 a year for these banking services.

The reason customers remain reluctant to switch is that the gains are relatively low for the perceived hassle of switching account, and running the risk that salary mandates, utility direct debits and so on go astray. Most people don't evaluate their bank account in terms of interest earned or charges taken, but by whether it allows them to run the rest of their financial life efficiently.